(MENAFN- Arab Times) In this week's Arab Times online poll, readers weighed in on the recent proposal in Parliament to issue a 5 percent tax on expatriate remittances. The majority of voters felt that this would be unfair as the majority of expatriates don't earn high salaries.
As reported in the Arab Times earlier, MPKamel Al-Awadhi called on the State to impose a symbolic fee on expat remittances.
In his proposal, the lawmaker explained Kuwait has the right to get something in return for services provided to expatriates like health and educational facilities; as well as subsidized commodities such as petrol, gas and electricity.
In his argument, he cited a report published in local newspapers that the expatriates' remittances totaled KD 21 billion in the last five years and estimated that the government could collect more than KD 200 million remittance fees annually if the proposal is implemented.
43 percent of voters were of the view that majority of expats in Kuwait don't earn high salaries and another 31 percent of respondents drew attention to the high cost of living, feeling that after rent and groceries, expatriates were left with marginal savings. "Expatriates endure a lot of hardships in Kuwait just because they are able to remit money and support their families back home. If their remittances are going to be targeted, why would people continue to work here?", a reader told the Arab Times.
"The cost of living in Kuwait is getting steeper by the day. Families are having a tough time coping with escalating rents and costs. So as tough as the day to day is, what little they save and store for the future is also now being targeted," another voter commented. "I don't know what services the MP is alluding to. We already pay for health and most expatriate children go to private schools", a reader shared. Another 9 percent of respondents felt that expatriates with families should be excluded from remittance tax and 7 percent of voters called for taxation slabs and felt that up to KD 500 per month should be non-taxable.
"If a fee on remittances is imposed, I think it should be relevant to the sum sent. It will be cruel to low income workers here 5 percent on their remittances. Most of them have taken huge loans to make it to Kuwait." Others pointed out that many expatriates would probably just find other ways to send money back home, through illegal channels or maybe invest in gold. "Why would anyone just give 5 percent to the government?," a reader remarked.
"This is just another instance of a continued hostility against the expatriate community. We are being targeted by the authorities day in and day out. Every day you read a new report about how they've come up with a new way to make life more difficult for us here", he continued. 3 percent felt that many expatriates don't spend much in Kuwait and 2 percent felt the move was necessary as Kuwait cannot depend on oil revenue forever.
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